Massive new centre for AI research opens in Montreal

WATCH: McGill University and Université de Montréal inaugurated a new artificial intelligence hub on Monday. As Global's Billy Shields, explains, it is being touted as a major step forward in AI, one that cements Montreal's position in the world of computer science.

It employs more than 35 professors from McGill University and l’Université de Montréal and more than 300 researchers.

“The rest of the world is now investing in this, it’s transforming society,” said Yoshua Bengio, Mila’s founder. “It’s becoming the tool for the next industrial revolution.”

I went to the inauguration of Mila — one of three AI centres of its kind in Canada (the other two are in Toronto and Edmonton). Interesting to ask some of the researchers about their work. @Global_Montrealpic.twitter.com/llTmAU4PsP

It’s a common problem facing the makers of driverless cars, but it takes on many dimensions.

“If you just show a machine one tiger, it won’t recognize other tigers, and it won’t know what’s not a tiger,” said Brady Neal, a master’s student at l’Université de Montréal.

Neal hopes his research will aid machines to be more discerning in the future.

Driverless cars were an interesting discussion because a lot of them confuse detritus (like newspapers) with obstacles. One researcher told me: "If you just show a machine one tiger, it won't recognize other tigers, and it won't know what's not a tiger." @Global_Montrealpic.twitter.com/yopwxyhXNN